Press Relations 101

Everyone loves a cool story, and motorcycle racing is the coolest sport in the world. That makes you, as a motorcycle racer, news.

And if you race in an AMA Racing National Championship Series or Grand Championship event, you are competing at the country’s highest level for your discipline. That’s big news!

With a little work, you can get press for yourself, your sponsors and your sport, by making it easy for local media outlets—in most cases, the local community newspaper—to cover your races.

Getting ink is just like winning a race—you can’t win if you don’t get to the starting gate. So, while you can never guarantee that you’ll see your name in print, if you don’t make the effort, chances are slim that you ever will.

In short, you want to make it as easy as possible for the paper to cover your race. That means giving them photos and a story. They almost certainly won’t run your story word-for-word, but it will give them the facts they need to jumpstart their own report.

Here’s what you want to do.

Get connected

Find the newspaper’s sports reporter or editor (or maybe both). Their contact information will almost always be available on a “Contact Us” page of the newspaper’s website. If you don’t find it there, look for it in a recent sports story. If you don’t find it there, call the paper and ask for it. Be polite.

Get busy

Write a story—called a press release—about an upcoming race or a recent performance. This may sound scary and a lot like work, but it doesn’t have to be. As an AMA member, you have the AMA’s permission to use the facts or quotes from a past AMA Racing press release for this purpose.

In addition, below are two simplified versions of stories that you can use. At a minimum, just cut, paste and replace the words in brackets with your personal details. You can do more, but remember to keep to the point. Facts are king.

Sample stories

[Your hometown, state] — A [your age, such as 10-year-old] motorcycle racer from [your hometown, state] took on some of the best amateur [your racing discipline, such as dirt-track] competitors in the nation on [date of the race] at the [name of the race or series, such as 2010 AMA Racing Dirt Track Grand Championships] in [the location of the race] and emerged with a coveted American Motorcyclist Association National No. 1 plate.

[Your name] is the 2010 AMA Racing National Champion in the [class name, such as 65cc DTX (7-11) class], which is for racers between the ages of 7 and 11 years old riding motorcycles with [engine size] engines.

“Dirt-track racing is my life,” [your name] said. “Becoming a national champion has always been my dream, and this is one of the greatest moments of my life. My mom, dad and I have been racing for years, and I’m so excited. I can’t wait for next year to get here so I can try it again.”

The [name of the race or series] crowns national champions from among the country’s best [racing discipline] racers. The top riders compete for the AMA Horizon Award, which honors the amateur racer poised for success on the professional level.

"Thousands of racers chase glory on the racetrack,” said AMA Director of Racing Joe Bromley. “The sweat, effort, talent and skill that are necessary to stand on the top step of the podium are enormous, and only a few get to raise an AMA Racing No. 1 plate when the dust settles. This year, [your name] was one of those few.”

[Your name] is a [school grade level]-grade student at [name of your school]. In addition to [racing discipline] racing, he participates in [your other sports and school activities].

[Your name] says he does not intend to take much time off following his successful performance at the [name of the race or series]. [Your name]’s next event will be [date] at the [track name and location], where he will wear his newly won AMA Racing No. 1 plate.

AMA Racing Grand Championship events and National Championship Series feature amateur motorcycle racers in a number of disciplines. There are events that feature motocross, dirt-track, woods racing, desert racing, hill climb, drag racing, and road track racing. AMA Racing sanctions series designed for both modern and vintage motorcycles.

AMA Racing amateur competition features a wide range of classes. There are classes available for kids as well as veteran racers well into their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. Classes also are broken down by skill and motorcycle size, which provides a level field of competition for all riders.

AMA Racing is the amateur-racing department of the American Motorcyclist Association. The AMA has been the country’s leading advocate of the motorcycling lifestyle since 1924. Funded primarily by the dues of individual members, the AMA also protects the rights of competition, recreational motorcyclists who ride both on-highway and off-highway and is a significant support of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.

[Your hometown, state] — A [your age] motorcycle racer from [city, state] will take on some of the best amateur [racing discipline] competitors in the nation on [date] at the [name of race or series].

[Your name] hopes to emerge from the multi-day event with a coveted American Motorcyclist Association National No. 1 plate. [Your name] will compete in the [class name] class, which is for racers who are [age range] riding motorcycles with [engine cc size] engines.

“I have been working hard for this all year,” [your name] said. “I love to race motorcycles, and becoming a national champion has always been my dream. But that is also the dream of everyone else on the track, so I will have to ride my best to win.”

The [race or series name] crown national champions from among the country’s best [dirt-track] racers. The top riders compete for the AMA Horizon Award, which honors the amateur racer poised for success on the professional level.

"Racers will travel from all over the country to compete against the best, and they all will be racing at the top of their game,” said AMA Director of Racing Joe Bromley. “The commitment to succeed at this level is enormous. Not only does it take practice, guts and money, but these racers must be among the top athletes in the sport. Their mental and physical fortitude is second to none.”

[Your name] is a [your grade]-grade student at [name of school]. In addition to [racing discipline] racing, he participates in [your other sports and school activities].

The [race or series name] are held at the [location]. For exact time and ticket information, call (800) 262-5646.

AMA Racing Grand Championship events and National Championship Series feature amateur motorcycle racers in a number of disciplines. There are events that feature motocross, dirt-track, woods racing, desert racing, hill climb, drag racing, and road track racing. AMA Racing sanctions series designed for both modern and vintage motorcycles.

AMA Racing amateur competition features a wide range of classes. There are classes available for kids as well as veteran racers well into their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. Classes also are broken down by skill and motorcycle size, which provides a level field of competition for all riders.

AMA Racing is the amateur-racing department of the American Motorcyclist Association. The AMA has been the country’s leading advocate of the motorcycling lifestyle since 1924. Funded primarily by the dues of individual members, the AMA also protects the rights of competition, recreational motorcyclists who ride both on-highway and off-highway and is a significant support of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.

Provide photography
Provide a digital high-resolution image of yourself in action. In technical terms, this means 300 dpi and a physical size of at least 5x7 inches, which most digital cameras can easily produce. Racing is thrilling, and a photo can deliver that message quickly. If you don’t have a nice shot and you have competed in past AMA Racing Grand Championship events, we may have your image in our online AMA Racing gallery. As an AMA member, you are free to download and use these images for this purpose.

If you are submitting a story about a recent race, ideally you will provide a photo from that event, but if that’s not possible, send in a generic riding shot. Sending something is much better than sending nothing.

Provide more photography!
Provide a high-resolution, quality portrait of yourself from the shoulders up, preferably in a jersey. Reporters and editors will want to show their readers what you look like. Think of the stories you see in the newspaper of standout athletes in high school sports. They almost always include a headshot.

Follow up
The day after you’ve e-mailed the story and images, follow up with a phone call. Ask the reporter or editor whether they received your e-mail, if the photos looked good, if they have any questions, and thank them for their time. Do not be pushy or arrogant in any way. They don’t have to cover you or your race, and if you give them any reason not to, they won’t.

Points to remember

Make sure your contact information (phone, e-mail and address) is included with anything you submit. If you are under 18, include the name and contact information of a parent.

Be polite. Whether you are talking to the reporter on the phone or e-mailing them, get to the point. Make sure you introduce yourself. Say “please” and “thank you.” Say “sir” and “ma’am.”

If you are competing in a top series, stress the high-level of your competition, particularly if it is a national championship.

Provide your press release in a basic format, such as a plain Microsoft Word document, plain text or simply as an e-mail message. The newspaper does not need you to layout or design your story in any way. Doing so will only make their job more difficult.

Don’t forget the photos. Be sure to follow up with the reporter and, if they did not receive the images, ask what is the best way to submit them.